Circular knitting machine



Mayv7, 1940. SHEPPARD 2,200,209

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HARRY N. SEPPARD BY HIS ATTORNEYS] y 1940. H. N. SHEPPARD 2,200,209

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tit-Elsa- INVENTOR HARRY N. SHEPPARD BY HIS ATTORNEYS y 7, 1940- H. N. SHEPPARD 2,200,209

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 TATE.

INVENTOR HARRY N. SHEPPARD BY HIS ATTORNEYS i g3 31%; f

Q 1940- H. N. SHEPPARD 2,200,209

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I n LI I! I 3w? W- NNNNNN O R HARRY N. SHEPPARD SSSS E BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented May 7,

Harry N. Sheppard, Maplewood, N.-J., asslgnor to Scott 8; Williams, In

corporatcd, Laconia,

- N. 11., a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 21,1939, Serial No. 269,252 9 Claims. (CI. 66-54) This invention relates to circular knitting machines and more particularly to means for the production of loose courses in seamless hosiery. One object of the invention is the production of 6- mechanism which will enable the machines to knit single loose courses repeatedly during reciprocatory knitting, and another object is the. eillcient incorporation of such mechanism in the modern seamless hosiery circular knitting ma- W chine.

In the drawings, t

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation from the left' side of a Scott 8: Williams seamless hosiery machine showing control mechanism inaccordance with the present invention, the parts being shown in the act of knitting a loose course during reciprocatory knitting;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the reciprocatory loose course mechanism completely out of action;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation from the front of the machine, showing the parts of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the stitch cam and the partsfor lowering it in response to the control mechanism of Figs. 1 to 3;

Fig. 5 shows the stitch cams as viewed from the outside of the machine 'at the back, the horizontal arrow indicating the direction of movement of the needle butts during rotary knitting; v

Fig. 6 is a side view of thepattern disk for controlling the rotary and reciprocatory loose ,course mechanisms; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of a fabric made according to this invention;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the foot of a stocking made on 'a machine embodying the present invention; and t Figure 9 is a partial view similar to Figure and showing a part which is broken away in Figure 3.

In certain cases it is considered desirable to incorporate loose courses at spaced intervals in hosiery, and mechanism has heretofore been known for producing same in such rotaryv knit portions of a stocking as the welt. The mechanism for producing such round-and-round single loose courses in the welt will be shown and described herein because of the novel manner in which it can be combined with the novel loose course mechanism about to be described. In certain cases it is desired to produce. single loose courses in portions of the stocking knit by reciprocatory or oscillatory movement oi the needle cylinder, such for instance as the heel and toe,

and it is sometimes desirable that these loose courses be as infrequent as one course in eight. The following simple mechanism enables such loose courses to be produced with the minimum number of parts and in cooperative relation with 6 the loose course mechanism for the welt, all of which will be set forth in detail hereinafter.

The machine has the usual clutch and driving mechanism of the modern seamless hosiery machine with revolving'needle cylinder, such for 0 instance as the Scott 8.: Williams type shown in the patent to Robert W. Scott No. 1,152,850, dated September '7, 1915.

One method of making loose courses in the welt is to lower the stitch cam temporarily, and

in the welt comprise a wiper or. rocker cam I2 operated from the usual quadrant or segment gear 16 of the machine, which rocker cam intermittently moves the thrust rod for the stitch cam. In the drawings there is a horizontal loose course rod M extending across the back of the 80 machine which is linked by a lever arm 60 fixed on the rod Hand a rod 82 to the quadrant and has an oscillatory cycle of movement of four knitted courses during rotary knitting. At the left end of the rod II as the machine is viewed from the 86 front is the rocker cam l2 having an adjustable plate 83 on the bottom thereof, the angular position of this cam on the rod ll being adjustable by means of a set screw ll. The plate 13 on the rocker cam is adapted to engage a pin IS in the 49 rear end of the welt loose course operating lever i6 pivoted on the frame A ofthe machine. The forward end of this operating lever I6 is attached to a thrust rod 462 by means of a tension spring l! which tends to hold the rod up and back. There is a. set screw l8 on the frame of the machine underlying the front half of the lever IE to limit the downward movement of the rod 462 and lever Ill,

The forward end of the operating lever I8 is so in the form of a jaw i9 embracing the lower end of the thrust rod 462 loosely, the exact elevation of this jaw being determined and fixed by tightening the screw 20 which joins the jaw to the main portion of the lever, and a set screw 2i on the jaw overlying the upper edge of the main v 'while the thrust rod notch 23 is resting on the pin 22, the thrust rodwill be raised and loose stitches will be made. The mechanism by which the vertical movement of the thrust rod is transmitted to the stitch cam is'shown in Fig.4 and includes a shaft 5I4 rotated by elevation of they thrust rod, which in turn causes lowering of a slide 5 carrying the stitch cam 360. The companion stitch cam which acts as a clearing cam during round-and-round knitting is designated in Fig. 5 by the reference character 3'6I.

By proper angular adjustment of the wiper cam I2, the operatinglever I6 can be operated every two or four courses. of rotary knitting. If the wiper cam is adjusted as shown in Fig. 1, it will oscillate the operating lever I6 once on its forward stroke and once on its backward stroke. which means that one loose course will be knit every second revolution of the needle cylinder.

In order that the above mechanism may be idled except when needed in the welt, means are provided which hold the thrust rod- 462 forward and away from the pin 22, as shown in Fig. 1.

This mechanism comprises a cam plate 24 on the thrust rod 462 at an elevation about opposite the axis of the main pattern drum I20. This plate extends rearwardly to a point where it comes in contact with a pin 25 in the upper end of a control lever 26 pivoted on a stationary part of the machine. This pin 25 projects to the right of the thrust rod 462 as shown in Fig.9 a distance sufiicient to bring it in contact with the periphery of a cam disk 54 shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6. This cam disk is fixedly mounted on the axle which carries the main pattern drum I 23 and revolves with that drum, one complete revolution for each stocking knit. As can be seen in Fig. 6, the periphery of this disk has a high portion 52 and a low portion 53. The low portion corresponds to the welt of the stocking and permits the notch 23 of the thrust rod 462 to engage the pin 22, as shown in Fig. 2, while the high portion of the periphery of this disk causes the pin 25 to force the plate 24 and thrust rod 462 outwardly until the thrust rod notch 23 is out of contact with the p n 22, as shown in Fig 1. There is a tension spring 55 tending to hold the pin 25 against the cam surfaces 52 and 53. (The arrow in Fig. 6 shows the direction of rotation of the cam disk as viewed from the left side of the'machine.) r

The novel mechanism for producing single loose courses in the heel and toe isalso actuated from the loose course rod II at the back of the machine. However, it is so constructed and arranged that it not only is inoperative at all times during the knitting of the stocking (except when specifically desired), but also it is so arranged. that it causes the knitting of loose courses in only one of the two directions of knitting taken by the needles during reciprocatory knitting. In addition, as already mentioned, the mechanism can be so constructed that loose courses in the one direction during reciprocatory knitting will occur only intermittently. Thus in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the loose courses occur during reciprocatory knitting only when the needles are moving in the direction of round.- and-round knitting, and in only every eighth course. The mechanism is carried on a vertical plate 21 on the frame of the machine at the left side, and has as its two most important elements a rack wheel 28 and pawl 33 therefor. (See Fig. 3.) The. rack wheel 23 is mounted vertically on the face of the plate 21. against the plate to prevent its rotating unintentionally. There are eight teeth on the periphery of the wheel,'six regular teeth 23 and two low teeth 3| equally spaced apart. At a point just following each low tooth 3I, a finger 32 is screwed to the outer face of the wheel in such a position as to project beyond the teeth, these fingers 32 presenting bevelled leading faces in the direction of rotation ofthe wheel indicated by the arrows in the drawings.

It is spring-pressed the fingers 32 on the wheel. The forward end of this operating lever is adapted to cooperate with and influence the movements of the thrust rod 462 in the following manner. The end of the lever contains a deepnotch with an upward step 36 at its extreme outer end. On the thrust rod, at about this level, is a pin 31 projecting laterally through the thrust rod. The end of this pin 31 overlies the forward end of the operating lever 33 and contains a vertical screw 33 with an adjustingnut. The dimensions and pivot points of the parts are such that when the lip 34 on the rear end of the operating lever 33 is pushed down by one of the fingers 32 and the screw 33 is resting on the .step 36 at the forward end of the lever, the thrust rod will be at-the same elevation as if the notch 23 of the pin 22 and the other slackening mechanism were in engagement and the rocker cam I2 wereraising the thrust rod. The screw 38 rests on the step 36 of the operating lever whenever the high portion 52 of the periphery of the disk 64 forces the thrust rod out of engagement with they pin 22 on the welt loose course operating lever I3. Thus it will be seen that when the lip 34 is engaged by a finger 32 and the screw 33 is resting on the step 36, the stitch cam 363 will be lowered to the dotted position shown in Fig. 5, where a slack course will be knit by the active needles if the cylinder is turning in the rotary or round-andround knitting direction. It might be noted that when the lever 26 drops down onto the pin 26 of low portion 53 of the cam 54, the spring I1 pulls the notch 23 and the pin 22 into engagement. and brings the screw 33 off the step 36 of the operating lever 33 and over the deep notch 35 in that lever. in this position of the thrust rod the lip 34 and the finger 32 can no longer cause slackening of stitches.

This mechanism is operated from the loose On the rod II is an upstanding arm 39 pawl being on the under edge thereof in a position approximately over the axis of the wheel 23. Mounted on the pivot pin which supports the" arm 33 is a collar 4| secured in adjusted position by a long set screw 42. Extending between the upper end of this screw and the rear end of the pawl is a tension spring 43 tending to hold the claw 40 of the pawl downwardly in engagement and during such revolution two loose courses,

equally spaced, are knit, as shown in Fig. 'I.

It will be noted that the pin 25 of the operating lever 28 is riding on a highportion 52 of the periphery of the disk, and the heel and toe loose course mechanism is in its operative relation with the thrust rod 482 except during the making of the welt. The following mechanism has therefore been devised to keep this reciprocatory loose course mechanism idle except when needed.

On the mounting plate 21 is an L-shaped idling lever 4 pivoted near the meeting point of its two arms. The upper arm of this lever underlies the forward end of the pawl-38. This arm is long enough so that when it is raised to substantially vertical position, as shown in Fig. -2, the pawl will be raised to such a level that its claw 48 canis a tension not engage a low tooth 3i on the wheel 28. There spring 45 tendingto hold the idling lever 44 in this upright or pawl-idling position, and this spring is effective to prevent the heel and toe loose course mechanism from making loose courses except when under the influence of a pair of side cams 48 and 41 on the outer face of the cam disk. To make these arcuate side cams 48 and 41 effective, there is a. pin 48 projecting laterally outward from the lower arm of the idling lever 44, and this pin is engaged by an upwardly extending link 48 which in turn is pivotally connected to a horizontal finger or lever 88 which is pivotally mounted on a bracket II on the main frameof the machine. The inner end of the finger or lever 88 lies against the side face of the cam disk 84 in-the path of cams 48, 41 and is normally in contact with the disk face. As the disk is racked around with the main pattern drum during the making of the stocking, the inner end of this finger 88 will come into contact first with the heel cam 48' and thereafter with the toe cam 41. These cams, being higher than the outer face of the disk 84,0perate the finger 88 to raise the link 48 and thereby lower the upper arm of the idling lever 44 against the tension of spring 45 to a level where the claw 48 can engage the adjacent low tooth ii on the wheel 28. In the drawings the disk 54 is shown composed of a multiplicity of plates togive the various surfaces needed. .As long as the cam 48 or the cam 41 is in engagement with the finger 88, the pawl 38 will continue to rack the wheel 28 and loose courses will be knit intermittently. The lengths of the cams 48 and 41 are determined by the racks through which the machine passes during the making of the heel and the toe. Thus in Fig. 8 a gusset is shown in the toe of the stocking,

and this gusset requires extra racks of the main pattern drum. This accounts for the extra length of the toe cam 41. I

The construction of the novel and associated parts of the machine having been described, their operation will'now be set forth. At the time the machine is ready to shift from rotary to reciprocatory knitting for the making of the heel, the

welt loose course mechanism is inoperative because the notch 23 in the thrust rod is held out of contact with the pin 22 in the jaw by virtue of the high portion 52 of the disk 54. The heel and toe loose. course mechanism is inoperative because its idling lever 44 is holding the pawl 38 up so that its claw 48 is idling back and forth above one of the two low teeth 3i on the rack wheel 28, and in this position of the'rack wheel neither finger 32 is in contact with the lip 34 on the operating lever 33. The change from rotary to reciprocatory knitting is made by a rack of the control mechanism which shifts the clutch into operative connection with the quadrant.

This shift is made in such timed relation to the movement of the quadrant that the latter first moves the cylinder in the forward or round-and' round direction, this serving to raise the instep needles out of action. This rack also turns the cam disk 54, bringing the side cam 4 6 under the finger 58, which lowers the idling-,1 4 and the pawl 38. While the needle cylinde I: ing forward and raising the instep needle i pawl 38 is also coming forward and therefore: has

not yet turned the rack wheel. The first move ment of the needle cylinder in a reverse' dir ction and the backward or pulling movement of the pawl begin simultaneously. During this first reverse movement of the needle cylinder a racking of the wheel 28 brings the finger 32 into contact with the lip 34, thus tipping the operat ing lever 33 and lowering the stitch cam. This lowering operation is completed at a pointin' the reverse movement of the needle cylinder when the idle instep needles occupy the rear half of the machine where the stitch cam 368 is located. Itmi'ght be noted at this point that while the cylinder is turningin this-reverse directionthe cam 388 ismerelyacting as a clearing cam'over which the active needles pass, and the companion cam '36l is acting as a running-down or-stitch cam. It might also be noted that when the cam, 368 is in its lower or dotted position, asshown in Fig. 5, it is high enough to clear the needles on the reverse stroke.

by the companion cam 3H and pass down under and are-caused to knit by the lowered stitch cam 368, this making a loose course. During this forward movement of the cylinder the pawl 38 is coming forward to take the next tooth-on the rack wheel 28, and the pawl becomes eifective at such a time that after the cylinder has moved about a quarterof a revolution in the'reverse direction on its second reverse movement, the thrust rod 462 begins to lower. By the end of the reverse movement the racking of thewheel 28 on the first high tooth 29 has been completed and the machine has knit the first tight course T after the loose course L. The machine con- On the next movement of the cylinder in the forward direction the activeneedlesare cleared tight course-which occurs while the cylinder 'is moving in the reverse direction-the other finger 32 tips the operating-lever 33 and lowers thestitch cam so that the eighth course made while I thecylinder is going' in the forward direction as before, will be a loosecourse.

This sequence of operation continues until the heel is completed, when the rack which shifts Iv the clutch from reciprocatory to rotary knitting causes the side cam 46 to pass out of contact I knitting, as above described. The foot of the.

stocking is then knit by rotary knitting, after which the machine shifts back to reciprocatory knitting in the same mannerthat it shifted intothe heel. The side cam 41 then engages the finger 50 lowering the idling lever 44, and permitting the operation of the rack wheel 28 by the pawl 30 and the making of the toe loose courses to be carried out in the same manner as in the heel.

Many modifications of this construction which do not depart from the scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, an oscillatory element adapted to give the cylinder reciprocatory movements and a knitting cam, in combination with means actuated by the oscillatory element to cause the cam to draw a course of longer stitches intermittently.

2. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder having rotary and oscillatory, movements, and an oscillatory element to'drive the cylinder during oscillation, in combination with a knitting cam and means actuated by the oscillatory ele-' ment to cause the, cam to draw longer stitches intermittently.

3. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder having rotary and oscillatory movements, and an oscillatory element to drive the cylinder during oscillation, in combination with a knitting cam, a racking element adapted to cause the cam to draw longer stitches and a pawl actuated by the oscillatory element to bring the racking element into and out of operative position.

4. In a circular knitting machine adapted to knit in either a rotary or reciprocatory manner, afneedle cylinder and an element adapted to give the cylinder reciprocatory movement, in combination with cam means to cause knitting in each direction of movement and means actuated by said cylinder reciprocating element to cause the cam means intermittently to draw a course of longer stitches when knitting in one direction but not the other. a I

5. In a circular knitting machine, a needle cylinder, an element adapted to cause reciprocation of the cylinder and stitch cam means adapted to cause knitting in each direction 01. movement, in combination with means for causing the stitch cam means to draw longer stitches in selected courses and a pawl actuated-by the cylinder reciprocating element to rack the slackening means.

6'. In a circular knitting machine adapted to knit seamless hosiery, a needle cylinder and an element adapted to, cause reciprocation of the cylinder for the knitting of heels and toes, in

combination with a cam operative in one direotion of movement to draw down the needles to knit, a thrust rod to control the length of stitch drawn'by said cam, a rack wheel adapted to select courses to be slackened, a pawl actuated by the cylinder reciprocating element to turn said wheel, means transmitting the rack wheel indications to the thrust rod and control means moving the thrust rod into and out of operative relation with said transmitting means.

'7. In a circular knitting machine, a stitch cam,

a thrust rod controlling the length of stitch drawn by said'cam, means adapted to actuate the thrust rod for the production of single loose courses during round-and-round knitting, and means adapted to actuate the thrust rod for the production of single loose courses during reciprocatory knitting, in' combination with pattern means adapted to shift control of the thrust rod from one slackening mechanism to the other and idling means associated mechanisms.

8. In a circular hosiery knitting machine, a needle cylinder, an oscillatory element adapted to drive the cylinder during reciprooatory knitting, a stitch cam'and a. rack wheel for selectively causing certain courses of reciprocatory knitting to be slackened, in combination with a pawl driven by the oscillatory element to rack said wheel in such timed relation with the needle cylinder that the slackening always occurs on courses knit in the same direction.

9. In a circular hosiery knitting machine, a needle cylinder, an oscillatory element adapted to drive the cylinder during reciprocatory knitting, a stitch cam and a rackwheel for selectively causing certain courses of reciprocatory knitting to be slackened, there being one or more low teeth on said wheel, in combination with a pawl driven by the oscillatory element to rack said wheel in P such timed relation with the needle cylinder that the slackening always occurs on courses knit in with one of said two the same direction, and idling means preventing 

